Cheeky, Fangy Grins
by his-little-troll
Summary: Arthur Pendragon has been studying history for almost 400 years. He's memorized all the lessons and all the books. Apparently his cheeky student Merlin Emrys disagrees. He can't possibly know more than Arthur, right?


Arthur frowned and ran a hand over his face.

A mess of dark hair and pale limbs sidled along the back row, sliding into a seat and tapping long fingers against his books.

"Mr. Emrys."

The man didn't listen, cheeks already red under his big sunglasses. Arthur could see the tell-tale white cord sticking out from the black jacket and scowled. He narrowed his eyes and marched to the back of the class, crossing his arms as he waited for the ridiculous man to notice him. By the time the dark sunglasses slid off Merlin's nose, Arthur was already being drowned under a blinding smile.

Ugh, it was horrible. Like sunlight got stuck on Merlin's face. Arthur rolled his eyes. "Earphones out, Mr. Emrys."

"Oh, did someone wake up on the wrong side of dawn?" White earbuds popped out of those ridiculous ears. "I was only a few seconds late."

"Five minutes."

"Same difference. What is time anyway but a construct of humanity's need for control?" Merlin winked and slouched back in his chair. "Well, don't let me keep you. Don't you have some wild guesses about history to go over?"

Arthur rubbed his hands over his face again and shook his head. "I really don't have the time or energy to deal with your lip today, Merlin. Hush up or go sit outside."

Merlin grinned at him and ran his fingers over his lips in a zipping motion. "All closed, sir."

Arthur didn't believe that for a second. "Today we'll be covering theories of the Arthurian legends and—"

There was a horrible coughing fit from the back, where Merlin was barely stifling his laughter.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Emrys?" Arthur tapped his foot, looking back from the as of yet unmarked white board. He edged away from the creep of sun from the window. "Gwen, if you would, put those blinds down. Somebody is giving me a headache."

"Oh no, Professor Pendragon."

Arthur's lip twitched. He knew someone would bring it up. It happened every semester. He knew it would be Merlin.

"Did you know, Merlin, that your namesake is proposed to be a madman from Carmarthen?"

"Yeah, well, they're wrong. Merlin wasn't mad. And Arthur was a great prat king who bullied him around."

Arthur scoffed. "There is hardly any evidence that Arthur and Merlin interacted more than a handful of times, and no real evidence at all that Arthur would have bullied—" Arthur stopped, glaring at the cheeky grin on Merlin's face. "Do you have any point, Mr. Emrys, or are you just trying to disrupt today's lesson?"

It was probably the worst part about coming to teach a group of college freshmen. Straight out of high school and determined to make a name for themselves, Arthur found himself either battling down snark or batting away flirtations. And Merlin had settled himself right in the middle, waggling his eyebrows and "correcting" his history lessons every Tuesday and Thursday. It was infuriating. Merlin was possibly the most infuriating person Arthur had met in 400 years.

"Oh, don't you bare those fangs at me, sir!" Merlin winked, wagging his finger. "I can't help it if scholars have collectively shoved their heads up their arses. Why on earth would Merlin, greatest sorcerer to ever live, run off into the woods over one little mistake? Doesn't make much sense. Especially for him to go mad there. I mean, really, he comes right back from there and wins the war against the King on his own, saving his sister," Merlin put the word in quotations, snorting lightly as if the thought was ridiculous, "and we're supposed to believe he was a mumbling fool just before? Sounds like a whole load of Christian veneer on a druidic leader to me."

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to ten. "You believe you have thought of possibilities that thousands of scholars haven't?"

"Of course not." Merlin shrugged, knocking the sunglasses back over his blue eyes. "I know what scholars have been scrambling to get their minds around for centuries."

"And how do you know that?"

"Why, I'm hurt." Merlin grinned, putting his hand to his chest. "Don't you recognize me? Big bad mad Merlin."

"Alright, Mr. Emrys. Come see me after class."

"I didn't know you cared." Merlin winked again and Arthur growled at him. Merlin tapped his sunglasses, smile faltering.

Arthur blinked, reigning in his irritation. None of the other students were looking at him, all of them craning to see what new face Merlin would make.

Surely Merlin hadn't noticed…

It was true that Merlin's jabs had become a bit more pointed (Arthur had barely caught himself in time enough to keep from telling Merlin that vampires did not sleep in coffins, why the hell would they sleep?), but Arthur couldn't think of anything that gave him away. Especially in this day and age where no one believed in that kind of stuff anymore. Shaking the strange warning from his mind, Arthur concentrated on staying calm.

Wouldn't do much good for any students to see the blues of his eyes turn red.

He continued on his lesson, occasionally interrupted by a "Wrong" from the back of the classroom poorly disguised as a coughing fit.

"Merlin Emrys, you will write me a 5000 word essay defending all of your alternate theories. Due next week." Arthur didn't bother to turn around, grinding his teeth at the waves of snickers that followed his order. "And anyone else heard during this class period will be joining Merlin in defending his crackpot history."

He needed a good lunch and a long, moonless night after this hellish class. Luckily, his threat gained him a silent ten minutes before the bell. No one even dared grumble. Professor Arthur Pendragon never went back on his threats.

Arthur waited until most of his students were gone before flopping into his rolling chair. It squealed a bit as it tottered back, stopping by the mini fridge under his desk. Oh the joys of having your own classroom. He sighed in relief and grabbed a large bottle of thick, red sludge.

It did help that blood looked so gross when he had to drink it. No one, in close to one hundred years, had asked to try his smoothies. Which was very helpful for his keeping his position and not ending up in jail. And no one questioned why he didn't eat lunch with them anymore. They all just thought he was a health buff.

He'd jumped in his chair when he heard someone clear their throat, loud and obnoxious in the quiet of the now empty classroom.

Well, almost empty.

"So, Professor Pendragon, you said you'd wanted to see me?" Merlin swooped off his glasses. "If you give me a moment, I'm sure I can read your thoughts."

Arthur sighed, taking another long drink from his water bottle. "Go on then, tell me what I'm thinking."

Merlin took a deep breath, pink tongue darting out to wet his chapped lips, before grinning. "Oh, Merlin, you very handsome fellow, who has saved me from being discovered on many occasions whether I realized it or not, how on earth did you discover there was a real live vampire in our midst?"

Arthur choked on the drink he'd been taking, red liquid burning its way up his nose.

"Careful there, wouldn't want your nose to bleed." Merlin leaned on his desk, tapping his fingers. "That might be a bit weird."

"Holy shit, Merlin, shut up." Arthur wiped across his mouth and grimaced at the stain on his blue shirt. "You can't just accuse people of beingvampires, what the hell?"

"Oh, right, sorry, sir. Of course." Merlin grinned at him, shrugging. "Let me try again."

"You know, Merlin, I can have you removed from class if you keep disrupting the lessons." Arthur nudged the water bottle away from him, keeping his eye on Merlin. "And you can't speak to me like this. I'm a professor. We're not friends at a party."

"Your curriculum is wrong. Wouldn't want to fill these kiddies' heads with lies! It's our job as the adultiest adults in the room."

"The curriculum isn't wrong. I've been studying this stuff since before you were born—"

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Merlin snickered leaning over Arthur's desk to crowd his face, that ridiculous sunshiny smile flashing bright across his cheeks.

"WHAT ON EARTH DOES THAT MEAN?" Arthur didn't know exactly why he fumed, exactly why, out of almost half a millennia of careful living, Merlin got under his skin. But he did know if those pretty lips interrupted him again, he might end up punching something. "I've been studying history since your great-great- grandparents were just a gleam in their parent's eyes, do you understand?" Arthur hissed it, baring red teeth. He knew his eyes flashed, his temple pounding with a headache. "Are you happy now?"

If Arthur's heart was still beating, it might have sped at the look of triumph on Merlin's face.

"However did you keep this secret so long if all it takes is one punk kid to get it out of you?" Merlin grabbed up Arthur's bottle and took a long drink. "That stuff tastes god-awful, would you believe that?"

"No one will believe you." Arthur allowed his eyes to burn scarlet, standing to his full height and pressing back against Merlin's invading presence.

"Will you stop being all cool for a second and think?" Merlin rolled his eyes. "I've been trying to tell you all semester. You are really very dense for an immortal."

"Who are you calling dense?" Arthur scowled, glaring at the quirk of Merlin's dark eyebrow.

"Just shut up and look."

Arthur didn't have a chance to ask what he was supposed to be looking for. One second he was glaring at Merlin and the next he was staring at a pair of glowing gold eyes. His mouth gaped open, teeth stained pink from his drink. "You're magic?"

"Yep."

"Magic was just a myth when I was born." Arthur stepped around his desk, pushing dark hair out of Merlin's eyes to get a better look at the gold. "Just an excuse to drown women that spoke up too loud or baby's that never stopped crying." Arthur paled at the memory.

"Yeah." Merlin's eyes drooped, his cheek flushing red against Arthur's palm as Arthur maneuvered his head around, looking for other signs of magic. "Well, I was born a good 1500 years before you, from what I can find."

"Gods, 1500 years?" Arthur dropped his hands, ignoring the faltering of Merlin's smile. "You can't be… You're just a punk kid from the back of the class."

"Oh, come on, I knew I'd have to get you good and mad to know for sure." Merlin chuckled. "You're very good at hiding by now. When's your next ten year vacation?"  
"I was considering it in the next couple of years, but you're so aggravating I may have taken it sooner."

Merlin stepped forward, eyes still glowing, lips chapped and red. "So, I've heard vampires have to be invited over before entering people's houses."

"That's rubbish. Why would I need to be invited?" Arthur looked down at Merlin's ears turning pink. He may not have a beating heart, but Merlin did, and it was thumping hard against Arthur's chest.

"Well, I mean, otherwise you're a pretty rude vampire." Cool, pale fingers slid over Arthur's jaw. "I could invite you over if you'd like. We could discuss immortal woes and the wonders of technology."

"Like a date?" Merlin nodded, the swell of magic and power and blood pounding against Arthur's senses. "Sounds like a boring date, complaining all night."

"I could keep bothering you in class."

Arthur closed his eyes as he caught the thick scent of salty, iron heavy blood from Merlin's wrist. He hadn't had someone pressed this close against him in a long while. "Careful, I'll think you're trying to trick me."

"Hm." Merlin grinned, "Merlin was quite a trickster in the history books."

"Thought all that was wrong."

Arthur didn't bother to pretend like he wasn't interested in this very much alive, pulsing, bold person in front of him. He grinned into the sudden push of plush lips into his, opening his mouth to taste hot tongue and the last bit of blood clinging to Merlin's mouth.

"Been waiting for that a thousand years now."

He didn't understand or care what Merlin meant when he'd sighed into his kiss, but he did care when Merlin pulled away, eyes back to their stormy blue.

"Well, better go drop out of this class before you get fired." Merlin waved, bouncing out of the room before Arthur could wipe the grin from his face.

"I've got a date with an asshole." Arthur scowled, once he realized that Merlin had left him grinning like a fool seconds before his next class. He reached for his water bottle, only to find the bloody drink missing. "He stole my lunch!"


End file.
